🏛 Social Media Brings Public Engagement

Jul 25, 2018

Butts County has a very active social media footprint, which we use to get information out to the general public about things going on in their government and community. As one of the earliest counties in Georgia to embrace the use of social media and the technologies that are associated with it, Butts County has led with several firsts in the state, including being the first county to begin live-tweeting Board of Commissioner’s meeting actions as they happen, as well as one of the first to tweet local and state election results directly as the results come in at the county election office.

We use a variety of social media sites to help disseminate news and information about the County Government, local news, events, emergency information and other items that citizens may find of interest about our community. Social Media is managed by the Butts County Office of the County Clerk and its employees. For the benefit of the public, we utilize the following social media:

Twitter (@ButtsCountyGa)

Twitter is our primary means of social media communications because it has the greatest potential to reach social media subscribers. We use this to post short, timely messages regarding County events, important meetings, community news, holiday closings, weather closings, weather warnings and other emergency news and information. Because Twitter does not randomly select which posts a user receives but displays all posts, the County typically utilizes this service on a more frequent basis to post daily news and weather items, as well as emergency alerts that citizens needs to be aware of. Election results are frequently live tweeted when a local election count is going on and we have also adopted the practice of tweeting the actions and votes taken at County Commission meetings, allowing citizens who cannot attend the opportunity to follow the meetings interactively. Those who “follow” a County Twitter account may also choose to subscribe to updates so that they are alerted whenever a new Tweet is posted by the County. This is helpful if a user follows many accounts because County posts may be overlooked if a follower is getting in multiple tweets all day. Users who follow Twitter on a mobile smart phone device can receive these alerts on the phone usually within a minute of the Tweet being posted. This is especially helpful when severe weather is approaching or occurring as weather alerts are put out frequently in an ongoing severe weather incident. Followers may post responses to Tweets but any responses that violate the County’s terms of use are subject to blocking and may include blocking of the account that posted them. Additionally, some County departments have their own individual Twitter accounts. These accounts may provide more specific information related to events and activities within their departments. These accounts are governed by these policies as well. The County reserves the right to “like” or “retweet” posts from others; however, unless specifically stated, such activity should not be construed in any way as an endorsement of said tweet. Additional County accounts include:

We use the official Butts County Georgia Facebook page to post notices regarding County events, office closings for holidays, news releases and emergency weather information. Because Facebook utilizes internal systems that selectively display posts to a portion of a page’s subscribers, there is always the possibility that some subscribers will not see all posts to the County Facebook page. It should be understood that users should not rely solely on Facebook to receive critical information. Interested users should manually go to the page when they want to see if updates have been posted or make sure their settings will allow for them to see as much page content as possible displayed on their timeline. The County does not allow followers to create posts to the County Facebook page. Followers may comment on posts but these posts will not be publicly displayed unless cleared by one of the account moderators. Comments may still be visible to friends of the person posting. Comments made on posts that are based on rumor, speculation or otherwise not based in fact will be deleted and may result in being banned from further use of the page. Comments which attack individuals or which make libelous comments will result in deletion and being banned from further use of the page. This is to protect the integrity of the page as well as to protect subscribers from potential exposure to objectionable material, potentially infected links or furthering the spread of misinformation. Additionally, some County departments have their own individual Facebook pages. These pages may provide more specific information related to events and activities within their departments. These Facebook pages are governed by these policies as well and include:

Butts County Department of Leisure Services

Butts County Fire Department

Butts County Office of Homeland Security

Instagram (@ButtsCountyGa)

The official Butts County Georgia Instagram page is used to post photographs relating to the County Government, its agencies and offices, events and pictures that are believed to be of general interest to the public. The County does not typically use this social media platform to make announcements or to issue urgent bulletins or updates. It is strictly intended to be an informative medium to the public through photography and to provide a pictorial timeline of the County. Followers may post responses to Instagram posts but any responses that violate the County’s terms of use are subject to blocking and may include blocking of the account that posted them.

Summary

It is our hope that through the use of social media, citizens will be better informed, more engaged with their local government and in possession of the facts about important matters of public policy. When properly used, social media can do all of that and much more. As your County government, we pledge that our information will be as accurate as possible and if mistakes are made, they will be corrected. Social media can be morass of conflicting information at times and our goal is to be a trusted source of information and insight about local government that you can depend on.